Georgia Alcohol Licenses: Local Control, Renewal Calendar and Fees by City and County

Disclaimer: This guide is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Cities and counties set their own alcohol rules, and those rules change. Confirm every date, fee and form with the local clerk before you file, and talk with a licensed attorney or CPA about complex situations such as ownership changes, multiple locations or a denied application.

Every bar, restaurant, package store or caterer that sells alcohol in Georgia needs two licenses. The state license comes from the Georgia Department of Revenue and follows one statewide process. The local license comes from the city where the business sits or, if the business is outside city limits, from the county. The local license is where most of the variation, paperwork and renewal deadlines live. This guide explains who issues it, what it usually requires, how renewal calendars differ and what local fees look like in several places.

Who issues the local license

Georgia has no general statewide business license. Alcohol is a licensed activity on top of your entity registration and general occupational tax certificate, and the local certificate is where the real variation lives. The city issues the local alcohol license when the business is inside city limits. The county issues it when the business is in unincorporated territory. More than half of Georgians live outside any city, so for many readers the county is the issuer. A business inside a city pays the city, not the county, even though the city sits within the county.

Alcohol licenses are issued to each establishment and are not transferable. Most localities also require the general occupational tax certificate before they will process an alcohol application, so start there. Each of Georgia's 159 counties and about 537 cities and towns sets its own formula, deadlines and prerequisites under O.C.G.A. Title 48, chapter 13. Do not assume a sale or move can be handled as a simple transfer. Johns Creek, for example, charges a separate $500 fee for a transfer to a new location, so ask your local office how it treats a change of owner or address.

How the state and local applications connect

Since January 12, 2022, state retail alcohol applications go through the Georgia Department of Revenue's centralized alcohol licensing process on the Georgia Tax Center. The local government receives the application from there. Cherokee County says it forwards the applications it receives, so do not assume you must send the local paperwork separately. Ask your local office how it receives its copy and whether it expects anything more from you.

The state's rule, Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. 560-2-2-.02, requires the state application to show the identical name and address used on the local license application. A difference in a suite number, a punctuation mark in the trade name or the way you wrote an LLC designator can hold up one or both applications. Copy the business name and address exactly from one source document, such as your Articles of Organization, and use that same text on every form.

What the local office will usually ask for

Expect a list that looks like the one below in most places. Requirements vary, so treat it as a starting point, not a final checklist.

• Zoning certification for the premises, confirming the location is zoned for alcohol sales.
• Proof of Georgia residency for the licensee, or a designated local agent.
• A copy of your lease, or proof of ownership of the premises.
• Fingerprints and a background check for the licensee and for each pouring permit holder.
• A SAVE affidavit and a private employer affidavit. Some offices notarize these for free, so ask before you pay a notary.
• A certificate from an approved alcohol sales and service workshop. Cherokee County and Kennesaw list approved vendors, including TIPS.
• If you are a private employer with more than 10 employees, an E-Verify affidavit, which is required to get the local occupation tax certificate under O.C.G.A. 36-60-6.

Plan your calendar around processing time. Cherokee County warns that processing can take 45 days or more. Start the workshop, fingerprints and zoning certification at the same time as the state application rather than waiting for each step to finish, because a missed document can add weeks.

Renewal calendars differ by place

Renewal is local, so Georgia has no single renewal date. The table below compares the places checked for this guide on October 29, 2026. Dates can change, so the city or county page and the clerk's office control.

Place	Renewal timing	What to watch for
Brookhaven	Licenses expire December 31. The renewal window for 2027 runs October 1 to November 30, 2026.	The window closes November 30, 2026.
Statesboro	Licenses expire December 31. The renewal form must be returned before November 1.	Return the form before November 1. Confirm with the city whether a late return is accepted.
Hinesville	Licenses expire December 31. Renewal paperwork was due December 1.	Sales are not allowed if the license is unpaid after December 31.
Johns Creek	Renewal applications and payments received November 16 to December 15.	A 10% late fee applies. A business that fails to renew by December 15 must reapply.
Gwinnett County	Renewals go through the state portal with a November 30 deadline. To take effect January 1, renew by November 1.	Confirm the portal steps with the county before the November 1 date.
Columbus	The state portal plus a city application.	The city application carries a $50 fee and a $20 police records check waiver. Confirm the current timing with the city.
Peachtree City	A city alcohol license plus the state license. Mixed drink tax reports are due by the 15th of the month, and payment is due by the 20th.	Add the applicant to the city payment system before starting the state application. Peachtree City also collects a quarterly Sunday sales filing report.
Peachtree Corners	Annual renewal. Excise tax returns are due by the 20th of the month after collection.	Pouring permits require fingerprints with the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Brookhaven, Statesboro and Hinesville all expire on December 31, but each sets its own renewal steps, so do not use one city's calendar for another. Cobb County handles regulated licenses, including alcohol, for the City of Mableton, so contact Cobb County for a Mableton address. Atlanta, Albany, Macon, Savannah and Stonecrest each run their own calendar. Check with those cities directly, because this guide does not list their dates.

Fees vary by place: the Johns Creek schedule

Local alcohol fees are set by each city or county and vary widely. The only city fee schedule this guide reads in full is Johns Creek's. Use it as an example of what one suburban city charges, not as a guide to any other place.

Johns Creek item	Fee
New application	$1,130
Renewal	$100
Transfer to a new location	$500
On-premise distilled spirits	$500
On-premise malt beverages and wine	$250
Sunday sales	$250
Pouring permit	$30

Johns Creek also levies a 3% retail liquor by the drink excise tax, with a 15% penalty for late filing. Columbus charges a $50 city application fee with a $20 police records check waiver. For the state license fee, use the statewide liquor license page on this site. This guide does not repeat the state fee table, and it does not give a single local fee for Georgia.

Sunday sales and other local choices

Sunday sales are a local decision. Whether your city or county authorizes them, and what filing it requires, is not uniform across Georgia. Call the city or county clerk and ask two questions: Are Sunday sales authorized at this address, and what local filing applies? Peachtree City, for example, collects a quarterly Sunday sales filing report.

Local rules also differ on what you may serve. Peachtree City allows corkage at a minimal fee of $10 per bottle and allows mixed drinks to go with a food entree. Those are Peachtree City rules only. Ask your own city or county whether it permits the same practices before you build them into your business plan.

Checklist before you file

1. Confirm whether the address is inside city limits. If it is, the city issues the local license. If not, the county does.
2. Obtain the general occupational tax certificate first, since most localities require it before the alcohol license.
3. Use one exact business name and address on the state and local applications, as Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. 560-2-2-.02 requires.
4. Obtain zoning certification for the premises.
5. Schedule fingerprints and background checks for the licensee and each pouring permit holder.
6. Complete the SAVE and private employer affidavits, and ask whether the office notarizes them for free.
7. Finish an approved alcohol sales and service workshop, and keep the certificate.
8. Ask the clerk whether Sunday sales are authorized and what filing applies.
9. Put the local renewal date and any local tax filing dates on your calendar.
10. Cherokee County warns that processing can take 45 days or more, so ask your own office how long it takes and allow extra time.

Related resources and official sources

For the general occupational tax certificate, read the occupational tax certificate guides on this site. If you run the business from your home, the home based business guide covers how local licensing and zoning can apply to that setup. For the state fee table, see the statewide liquor license page. The Georgia Department of Revenue homepage is at dor.georgia.gov, and the Georgia Tax Center is at gtc.dor.ga.gov. The Georgia Small Business Development Center at the University of Georgia, at georgiasbdc.org, can help you think through licensing questions for a new business.

Local rules are the part of Georgia alcohol licensing most likely to change, so confirm every date and fee in this guide with your city or county clerk before you sign a lease or set an opening date.